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INS AND OUTS - TOY CLEANER

Just a few quick words today on Toy Cleaners – a product I get a lot of questions about. I often get asked what the difference is between specialized toy cleaners and regular soap, so let me tell you. Keeping toys clean is mega important, sex toys are going in your most sensitive places, where balance is paramount and easy to upset. Different types of soap, be it dish soap, hand soap, bar soap, or body wash, have a totally insane range of ingredients aimed at softening hands, getting rid of grease, exfoliating, hell, sometimes even sparkles. Soaps will often contain skin softeners and oils, which can potentially damage and break down the materials in toys as well. More often than not, soaps are infused with loads of perfumes too, you know, we all want to smell like a Tahitian Sunset (whatever that smells like). When cleaning a toy, the only goal is getting rid of residue and preventing bacteria growth. Anything that goes on the toy will wind up at least in trace amounts in your body the next time you use the toy, so you want to be super mindful of what those ingredients are. Many antibacterial soaps contain Triclosan, which, while an effective antibacterial and antifungal agent, has potentially damaging effects on human hormone regulation, a fact which is currently being investigated by the FDA and Health Canada. Special toy cleaners, like Intimate Earth Green Foaming Toy Cleanser will instead opt for ingredients like Tea Tree Oil and Guava Bark, which are also effective antibacterial and antifungals and don’t mess with your hormones. That being said, there are some people who are sensitive to Tea Tree Oil (myself included, sadly) and for those there are Toy Cleaners like Dr Laura Berman’s Universal Toy Cleaner, which only 4 ingredients, and gets the job done basically and safely.